Video: UFC 155's Jim Miller may not be happy without dominant win over Lauzon

Gray Maynard, Benson Henderson, Nate Diaz. That’s a pretty intense trio, considering those three names have been in each UFC lightweight title fight over the past two years. For Henderson and Diaz, their wins over Miller helped get them title shots. Henderson now holds the belt, and Diaz just fought for it.

For Miller (21-4 MMA, 10-3 UFC), who meets Joe Lauzon (22-7 MMA, 9-4 UFC) in the co-main event of next week’s UFC 155 pay-per-view, those losses, especially to Henderson and Diaz over the past 16 months, were a barometer on where he’s at in the division – because he already knows where he wants to be.

“It shows me where I am – I know I can beat any of these guys who have beaten me, and could’ve beaten them that night had I gotten off a little bit sooner, or had the momentum not gone their way,” Miller recently told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio). “It comes down to little things, and it makes me know I can beat anyone in the world and be the champion. There’s a little bit of that, ‘Son of a b—-. That would’ve been a good one to win’ (after those losses). But I know where I am and know where I am because the guys who have been able to beat me are at the top.”

Miller stepped in for Maynard five weeks ago when the former title challenger injured his knee training for Lauzon. And the call came just in time.

Miller had been rehabbing a muscle injury in his right leg that occurred in his loss to Diaz at UFC on FOX 3 this past May. He was just to the point of really wanting a fight, but afraid it might not come before the calendar turned.

“I’m a fan of his, and I think it’s an exciting fight and I match up well with him,” the New Jersey-based fighter said of Lauzon, from the Boston area. “I’m excited to get back in the swing of things because even after I came back from the injury, I was having a tough time just getting back in consistently with everything going on. It’s good to be back and going full-bore.”

It’s the type of fight fans have already christened as a “Fight of the Night” bonus winner before the fighters even make the walk at UFC 155, which takes place at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas with a pay-per-view main card following prelims on FX and Facebook. Fights like Jamie Varner-Melvin Guillard (whom Miller beat in January for his lone win since March 2011) and Eddie Wineland-Brad Pickett might give them a run for their money, of course.

But Miller isn’t thinking about “Fight of the Night.” He wants to finish Lauzon.

“You never know who’s going to take those bonuses – you never know what else is going to be on the card,” Miller said. “So it really doesn’t come into my mind. I’m looking to put him away. I’m looking to get a sub or a knockout and make it impressive over him. If he can survive the whole night, then yeah – I’ll take a ‘Fight of the Night.’ But I just want to go out and have a dominant fight and satisfy myself.

“I haven’t been satisfied with a fight for coming up on two years now and it’s really been eating at me. I want to get in there and do everything I’m capable of.”

It just so happens that the fight Miller likely was most recently satisfied with, in his mind, was a “Submission of the Night” victory over Charles Oliveira two years ago. His win over Guillard in January also brought him a submission bonus, but it’s not a fight he was satisfied with.

And that may come as a surprise, given that he stopped Guillard in just a little more than two minutes.

“The Guillard fight, I was happy I won and happy I finished him,” he said. “But it wasn’t a dominant two-minute fight. He landed a shot, and that’s not what I want. I want to go in and make somebody look bad. I want to beat him up and be dominant from bell to bell. I try to be my own biggest critic and really push myself.”

Lauzon has three wins in his past four fights. He submitted Guillard, as well. And he also double-dipped with bonus checks for both best submission and best fight with his third-round win over Jamie Varner at UFC on FOX 4 in August. He has a staggering 11 fight-night bonuses on his resume.

But Miller isn’t out looking for a bonus. He’s not even out looking for a mere win. As he said, he wants it to be dominant. If it’s not, sure, he’ll take a win. But anything short of dominance will keep him at the drawing board, trying to get back to the point where he has one more crack at getting to the title shot that has eluded him in the UFC, but has gone the way of Henderson, Diaz and Maynard.

“That’s the plan: Beat him as dominantly as I can, take another big one and put somebody else away,” he said.

MMAjunkie.com Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) live from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show is hosted by “Gorgeous” George Garcia, MMAjunkie.com lead staff reporter John Morgan and producer Brian “Goze” Garcia. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.

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